Slavery, a good place to begin

Slavery may seem like an odd place to begin a Christian web blog, but it really isn't. The Spanish philosopher George Santayana wrote in his work "Life of Reason" (1905) that "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
About one hundred and fifty years ago, the Christian churches in this country were quite literally splitting apart, separating for many years the Southern Methodists, for instance, from their northern counterparts, or the still alienated Southern Baptists from their brethren in the American Baptist Church. At that time, the Episcopal Church avoided the splits that severed most of the other Christian denominations. The issue that divided the Church, and then eventually the nation, was of course, slavery. The question was whether Christians approved of the institution of slavery, and the answer to that question, upon which we think so very little about today, filled the sermons and writings of American Christians all over this land a century and a half ago.
The Biblical case for slavery was strong and impressive, if not conclusive. Slavery, it was argued, was established by God in creation, found in the mark of Cain, Abel’s brother, and in the curse of Noah’s son Canaan. Slavery was also endorsed by Moses and the Law, found there even in the Ten Commandments, where it reads: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s” and “The seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” (Ex. 20.10) The Deuteronomic Law further provided various guidelines in the ownership of slaves, such as in Exodus 21.20, “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, that man shall be punished. But if (a man strikes his slave and) the slave survives a day or two, the man is not to be punished; for the slave is his property.” The Levitical Code is also clear about slavery: “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round about you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you . . . and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession for ever.”
The New Testament is less explicit about slavery than the Old, but still neither Jesus nor St. Paul nor any other Biblical figure recorded there says anything in opposition to the institution of slavery, though slavery was very much a part of life in Palestine and the Roman Empire during New Testament times. Jesus casually mentions slavery in the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Mt. 18.25) and in the parable of the Watchful Slaves (Lk. 12.45), there was an opportunity for Jesus to condemn the abuses of slavery, but Jesus said nothing. In that parable, Jesus mentions how the “slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. And that slave who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall (himself) receive a severe beating.” St. Paul is explicitly supportive of the institution of slavery when, for instance, he writes: “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart,” (Eph. 6.5) or “Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brethren; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these duties. If any one teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which accords with godliness (that person) is conceited and understands nothing” (I Timothy 6.1-3). This despite Paul’s more laudable remarks that “In Christ, there is no slave or free” (Gal. 3.28, cf. 1 Cor. 12.13, Col. 3.11).
And early Christian tradition further clearly supported the institution of slavery. The Council of Gangra, around 340, pronounced the church’s curse on those who taught the emancipation of slaves. Pope Gregory I, around 600, wrote that “Slaves should be told...not [to] despise their masters and recognize that they are only slaves.” Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century accepted the teachings of Aristotle that slavery was “natural.” Pope Nicholas V in the 15th century granted to the Kings of Spain and Portugal “the right to reduce any Saracens and pagans and any other unbelievers” to perpetual slavery. Pope Paul III in 1548 confirmed that any individual may freely buy, sell and own slaves. Runaway slaves were to be returned to their owners for punishment. Late in the 17th century, Nicholas Leander, a Roman Catholic theologian, wrote: “It is certainly a matter of faith that this sort of slavery in which a man serves his master as his slave, is altogether lawful. This is proved from Holy Scripture...It is also proved from reason for it is not unreasonable that just as things which are captured in a just war pass into the power and ownership of the victors, so persons captured in war pass into the ownership of the captors. . . All theologians are unanimous on this.”
Thus it is not at all surprising that Jefferson Davis could declare in his inaugural address as President of the newly formed Confederate States that “[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.” Thus the Abolitionists in the 19th century had to face and overcome the long and established arguments from both the Bible and Christian Tradition supporting the institution of slavery.
In the end, their defense was what they called the ‘Spirit of the Gospel’. While Scripture and Tradition was pretty affirming of slavery, the ‘Spirit of the Gospel’ they argued demanded an end to this cruel and inhuman practice. ‘The Spirit of the Gospel’ was the crucial thing. Eventually the Christian Tradition changed its position supporting the practice of slavery, and we did so despite very strong Scriptural and historical support for the institution. But Scriptural and Traditional arguments alone are not sufficient, for there is a greater authority for the Church. It is the ‘Spirit of the Gospel’. And together, despite our differences and divisions on various issues, we as Christians must struggle to understand what the ‘Spirit of the Gospel’ is for our day. Because I believe that the ‘Spirit of the Gospel’ has and will always prevail. So we need not be anxious about our day, our time, and our issues. In the words of Dame Julian, “All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well.”